1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicular air conditioning seat capable of blowing air from blowing means to a seating face (or the like) by passing through an air path formed at an inner portion of a seat pad.
2. Description of Related Art
An air conditioning seat of JP2003-285629A includes blowing means, a first pad, a second pad thinner than the first pad, and a seat cover having an air permeability. The blowing means is arranged at a back face of the first pad. The second pad is arranged at a surface of the first pad. The seat cover covers the second pad. The first pad includes a plurality of guide holes penetrated from a back face over to a surface thereof. A back face of the second pad is recessed to form an air distributing groove (air distributing path) in a groove-like shape. The second pad also includes a plurality of pieces of through holes. Air forcibly blown from the blowing means passes through the air distributing grooves and the plurality of through holes of the second pad from the guide holes of the first pad to be drawn to the seating face. A plurality of pieces of the air distributing grooves are formed at a portion excluding a side support portion. The respective air distributing grooves are communicated with the single guide hole.
According to the air conditioning seat, by forming the plurality of pieces of air distributing grooves, air guided from the single guide hole can be distributed in various directions by branching air to the respective air distributing grooves. However, the through hole constituting an air blow out port directly faces the seat cover. Thereby, there is a concern that the through hole is closed by the body of a passenger and a function as the air conditioning seat cannot be achieved.
An air conditioning seat of JP2004-73429A includes blowing means, the first pad, a net-like cushion member, and the seat cover having air permeability. The blowing means is arranged at a back face of the first pad. The first pad constitutes a main body of the seat pad, and includes a plurality of through holes. The net-like cushion member is arranged at a surface of the first pad. Respective through holes of the first pad are covered by the net-like cushion member. The seat cover covers a surface of the net-like cushion member. The net-like cushion member constitutes a three-dimensional structure bending to wave a number of continuous wire-like members respectively in a loop-like shape and melting to weld contact portions thereof. Thereby, the net-like cushion member is made to be air permeable in a thickness direction and in a plane direction while having a constant elasticity. By arranging such a net-like cushion member, air permeability is promoted while maintaining a cushioning performance without providing the air distributing grooves.
According to this air conditioning seat, the net-like cushion member is permeable in the thickness direction and the plane direction. Thereby, the through hole constituting the air blow out port is not closed by the body of the passenger. However, the air distributing grooves are not formed. Thereby, even when the net-like cushion member is air permeable in the plane direction, it is difficult to deliver air over a wide range. Therefore, when a number of the through holes are bored, the following problem is posed. A guide space for covering all of the through holes is needed. Or, a plurality of blowing means are needed. Thereby, ventilation is not efficient, which amounts to also a large-sized formation of the vehicular seat.
According to an air conditioning seat of JP2006-82589A, a resin plate is embedded to a bottom face of a groove recessed to be formed at a surface of a seat pad. A back face of a seat cover is arranged with a locking piece. By locking the resin plate and the locking piece by a locking metal piece, the seat cover is fixed following a shape of the seat pad. At the seat pad, a side support portion is formed to be bulged from the seating portion. A blowing device is arranged at inside of the side support portion. A net-like cushion member is arranged at surfaces of the seating portion and the side support portion of the seat pad in a state in which one end thereof faces a groove. The net-like cushion member at the portion is arranged with high rigidity fibers at a surface and a back face thereof, and the fibers at the surface and the back face are connected by string-like fibers capable of elongating and contracting in a thickness direction. Thereby, the net-like cushion member is made to be permeable in the thickness direction and in the plane direction while having a constant elasticity. On top thereof, air blown from the blowing device is made to flow at inside of an extended space in a seat width direction produced between the groove and the seat cover. Air is guided from the extended space to the net-like cushion members of the seating portion and the side support portion and the surface of the vehicular seat is ventilated. Thereby, the air distributing groove at the seat pad is dispensed with. By arranging the blowing device at the side support portion, thin-walled formation of the air conditioning seat is achieved.
According to this air conditioning seat, the net-like cushion members are arranged at the seating portion and the side support portion. Thereby, a total of the vehicular seat surface is provided with air permeability. However, the extended space between the groove and the seat cover is utilized as the air path. Thereby, a flow of air flowing at inside of the extended space is hampered by the seat cover, the locking piece, the resin plate, and the locking metal piece. In the worst case, the flow of air is interrupted. Thereby, air cannot smoothly be made to flow to the locking portion of the cover seat and permeability at a center portion of the vehicular seat is extremely deteriorated. Further, a position of arranging the blowing device is restricted to the side support portion, and therefore, a degree of freedom of designing the vehicular seat is low. A portion of making air flow to the net-like cushion member is disposed only at the groove portion, and therefore, even when the net-like cushion member is permeable in the plane direction, it is difficult to deliver air over a wide range including the seating portion.
Further, JP2001-145542A discloses a vehicular seat capable of controlling a temperature of the seating face. According to the vehicular seat, the seat pad is covered by a thin film which is difficult to be permeable and a surface of the thin film is provided with a permeable layer. The permeable layer is covered by a seat cover which is difficult to be permeable. A back face of the seat pad is provided with a blowing device. The seat pad and the thin film are respectively bored with a plurality of pieces of through holes. Warm air or cold air blown from the blowing means is circulated at inside of the permeable layer to be drawn to a back face of the seat pad without permeating the seat cover. The vehicular seat does not achieve a permeable seating face.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an air blow out port at the seat pad that does not close even when a passenger is seated thereon, air is arranged efficiently while firmly ensuring a permeability, and a total of a surface of the air conditioning seat is provided with the permeability.